Trail run challenges city’s best

Westminster police officers and firefighters will once again battle it out to the finish line during the 4h Annual Blazing Bullets Trail Run on Saturday, June 8.

All ages are welcome to run or walk the 5k race or a take it up a notch and compete in the 10k race. The race begins at 8 a.m. at Christopher Fields, 5875 W. 104th Ave, and covers many Westminster trails.

“This run is a lot of fun because the whole time the police officers and firefighters are bantering back and forth about who is going to win the race. Even before the race, both sides are razzing each other about the race,” said Westminster police detective and race director Jean Matthews.

“Citizens tell me how fun it is to listen to both sides. People really seem to get a kick out of it. It’s pretty entertaining.”

The trail run is also a fundraiser for the Westminster Public Safety Recognition Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to recognizing city employees, residents, and police and fire personnel for heroism, bravery and acts of service in the name of public safety in Westminster.

The money raised from the race will go toward the foundation’s annual awards banquet.

“The foundation’s No. 1 goal is to honor our local heroes, and we do that through the awards banquet in September,” said Betty Whorton, chairperson for the foundation.

“The banquet is our way of showing our police officers, firefighters and anyone who has stepped out to help someone else that we appreciate what they have done. It’s our way of saying thank you.”

Matthews said last year’s race was the biggest yet, with close to 250 runners. She’s hoping that number grows this year with even more participants. She said this year’s race has a little more meaning after the many tragedies that have happened in the past year including the Aurora Theater shooting, Sandy Hook Elementary shooting, the Boston Marathon bombing, and especially the local tragedy of the murder of Jessica Ridgeway.

“We invited the school and parents at Witt Elementary, where Jessica went to school, to see if they would like to participate in the race,” she said.

“We just wanted to hold out the invitation to them because of everything they have gone through and to keep the bond we have with them going.”

A variety of vendors will also be at race headquarters and fire trucks and police cars will be on display.

Awards will be given to the overall male and female winners for both the 5k and 10k runs, along with first- and second-place awards in all age divisions. All runners will receive a T-shirt and goody bag.

The preregistration fee for the races is $30, and registration on the day of the event is $35.